


diamond in the dirt

by spideywhiteys



Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [63]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Nuclear Fallout, BAMF Uzumaki Kushina, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Super far into the future, he's always pretty though so how is that fair, he's terrifying, i tagged it only because they belong together always so..., kurama is a mutated monster creature lol, kushina is a badass as she deserves to be, minato is pretty, modern setting kinda?? like it's not in the canonverse future, unknown timelines, use of bunkers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29850603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideywhiteys/pseuds/spideywhiteys
Summary: Kushina, in the twenty years she's lived in this dystopian world, has never seen a human being outside of the ones from her settlement. Until today.
Relationships: Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Kushina, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [63]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086938
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	diamond in the dirt

**Author's Note:**

> Day 63: Nuclear Fallout AU / Kushina + Kurama

The sweat has not yet gathered in the dip of her spine. Heat has not yet settled over the decimated land, a rising sun only just peering over the horizon. This is her favorite time of day. The mornings are comfortably cool and just bright enough to maneuver around without the need for a flashlight or lantern. Matches and batteries are in high demand these days, which is why most suffer the heat of day rather than waste resources scavenging at night.

It’s infinitely more dangerous in the dark, too.

Monsters skirt across the land; years and years of development in a world saturated with radiation will do that to the local wildlife….turn them into disastrous beings, that is. Nowhere is safe, no matter what time it is — but everyone knows that decreased visibility means heightened danger.

Kushina is careful with her steps. She might be loud in spirit, but she’s not stupid. That’s probably the only reason she feels fine going on her own in the early morning. She’s strong, with no desire to give up her life anytime soon. One of the best fighters to come out of her settlement, actually.

The only one to befriend a creature born of decades of mutation and devastation. 

His name is Kurama, and like a crow or exotic bird he can mimic human speech. He looks like a fox, in a decidedly more dangerous form. Deep orange, bordering on scarlet fur, massive feet and claws to match an equally massive body. On all fours his head is level with her own. She can basically ride him as a horse — a four legged creature she’s only ever seen in old picture books. She actually has before, when fleeing dangerous situations. He’s faster than her, after all.

Not all the monsters that come out of the land are dangerous. So maybe calling them  _ monsters _ is cruel. But most will attack first and think later, instinct to survive just as powerful as any other animal. It just so happens that they’re far deadlier these days. No more cuddly looking rabbits or squirrels that she’s only heard stories about from those hanging onto the last threads of life, old and aged like crinkled paper bags. Even  _ they _ have never seen such creatures, but they tell the stories of their forefathers over and over, so as to preserve some sense of history for humanity. 

Kushina thinks that’s all well and good, but it’s not very helpful in these times. The world ended. History won’t mean much in the long run, even if they want it to. It’s a trial to even survive in this world.

“Hear anything?” She whispers, crimson hair tied carefully up, strands brushing the back of her neck. She’s dressed in darker clothes, dusty and dirty with constant use. The world is basically a desert, the dirt unable to house anything in the way of plant life. 

Humanity only survived thanks to the Bunkers. 

Decades and decades, centuries even — burrowed deep in the ground to outlast the purge of a world bombed into oblivion. They had everything they needed. Generators, massive greenhouses, drills to expand their living space, a cave system with natural water — but that kind of set up can’t last forever, even if they wanted it to. Eventually the generators began to fail. Eventually they ran out of ways to repair them. Eventually they just didn’t have the materials needed to keep living there.

They had food and water, sure. Water that was constantly recycled, but water all the same. Food grown under a fake sun. A fake sun that needed to be powered by a machine that keeps failing. So yeah, the food part is the reason why they finally broke their cage and headed to the surface.

That was twenty years ago, back when Kushina was only an infant taking her first breaths. They lost many to the harshness of this new planet. But they also gained a lot. Freedom, in a sense. New materials and new ways to survive. Skills and new food sources. A sun that wasn’t crafted from a machine.

But good  _ god _ was it hot up here. That’s the only thing she hates. Twenty years and she’s still not accustomed to it.

“Movement.” Kurama replies in that guttural, scratchy voice of his. It should be terrifying, for such a hulking, grim looking beast to speak in such a way, but she’s long since grown used to it. Though he can’t be bothered to speak in full sentences, there’s enough intelligence in his eyes for Kushina to know that he’s not just an animal repeating what he’s heard. He  _ understands  _ how to speak.  _ Understands _ their language, and managed to learn it. Which is how they’re able to hold limited conversation.

Kushina grips her weapon tightly. A bastardized spear with sharp, crudely curved metal as the blade. “Enemies?”

His massive head cocks to the side, long ears — like rabbit ears, oddly enough — flicker. A deep exhale escapes him, breath visible in the cool air. “Unknown.”

“How many?”

“Three. Fight.”

Kushina furrows her brow. “We’re fighting? Or  _ they’re _ in a fight?”

“They.” Kurama growls. His tail fidgets behind him, sending up some dust. 

“Well, let’s leave them to it then.” No need to get involved. She’s all for a good pulse-pounding fight, but it’s still dim and she’s not an  _ idiot, _ even if she’s impulsive. 

She makes to turn in another direction when another word from Kurama stops her.

“Human.”

Before she knows what she’s doing, she runs in the direction of the fight. She doesn’t really know where it is, aside from in the general area of  _ up ahead, _ but Kurama gallops beside her, nudging her along and she trusts him to not lead her on a wild goose chase. Across the dusty, cluttered landscape she thunders. Past old buildings and hunks of concrete and steel, bits off an old civilization she was never privy to. It’s all overgrown and dirty, half buried by time and earth. She hops over a steel beam that’s so rusted a single tap might send it up in a cloud of red. 

The fight is within her hearing range now. She can hear the snarls of Scratchers, aptly named for their giant claws — and the terribly hoarse quality of whatever noises leave their throats. They always manage to sound like they’ve inhaled a room of smoke.

She also hears the harsh breaths and yelps of a person.

Kushina scrambles up a tilted wall of concrete half buried in the dirt. When she gets to the top, she is standing right above two Scratchers and their prey. A man by the looks of it, rather pretty even though he’s covered in dirt and there’s a bloody cut on his forehead. His hair is a bright shade of blonde — so terribly golden she can even tell through the dirt. She can’t make out his eyes too clearly, but they might be blue or green. 

He is the only person she or any from her Bunker have seen outside of their own people  _ ever. _ Not once, in twenty years, have they ever run into anyone else. There was always hope, obviously, that there were other Bunkers set up across the world. Every country had contingency plans, according to old tales, but it’s probably been centuries and who knows what could have happened. 

They could have been the last of humanity as they knew it.

There was always the dream of going looking — of traversing the lands in hope of finding someone else, or anything resembling a settlement. But the world is too dangerous to just wander around freely with no safe space to return to. Camping out in this vast, decrepit wilderness was a sure recipe for death. Travel? Impossible.

And yet here is a man, just one man from what she can tell, wandering in that very wilderness.

He’s not exactly doing a great job of surviving, by the looks of it.

“Kurama.” She says, and her voice carries enough for the Scratchers to take notice. “Mind getting rid of them for me?”

Kurama smiles in a sincerely unnerving way, too many teeth that are far too large bursting from his lips. He jumps down into the fray and bats the Scratchers away with a violent swipe of his paws. 

The blonde man stumbles back in shock, but manages not to fall. Points for him, she supposes. He grips the makeshift daggers in his hands like he’s expecting a worse fight, but Kurama barely acknowledges him, tearing into the Scratchers with bloody ease.

Kushina puts her hands on her hips and yells down to the man. “Hey, idiot! Long range weapons are the only way to live around here, ya know! Your sissy little daggers are exactly why you almost kicked the can!”

He blinks up at her, completely stunned. She’s glad she got her momentary freak-out at seeing some new over with while he wasn’t looking. She wants to look  _ cool,  _ dammit!

“Um,” He says, glancing at Kurama, “Is that...with you?”

“His name is Kurama, blondie.” Kushina jumps from the concrete and braces her ankles for the landing. She hits the ground with a thud, standing without a wobble. He’s prettier up close. His eyes are blue, blue as the toxic bright sky. “And you’re lucky he even heard you flailing around.”

“Right. Um, thank you, then.”

Kurama patters over, claws coated in bright green blood. He licks across his teeth, eyeing Blondie with vivid crimson eyes, almost the same shade as Kushina’s hair. “Welcome.”

Blondie blinks in shock once again as the word leaves Kurama’s growling throat. The fear Kushina is expecting doesn’t come. Instead, wonderment takes over his dusty, bloody features. “Wow. That’s incredible.”

Kushina feels slight pride blossom in her chest. “Of course he is!”

“I’m Minato.” He introduces, smiling. “Thanks for saving me, really.”

“I’m Kushina, ya know!” She grins right back, feeling another emotion grow alongside the pride, one she isn’t sure how to name. Whatever, she’ll figure it out later.


End file.
